Themes Across the Board
by flipomatic
Summary: 100 themes challenge for NaNoWriMo 2015. Each chapter will be a different fandom or ship, the story will be moved with each chapter. 3. Making History - "Could you tell me a story about Mom?"
1. Introduction - RWBY, Renora

At age six years old, every day was exciting for Nora. She bounced through life with energy and joy. Being in class was hard sometimes since she had trouble sitting still. The teacher wouldn't let her out if she caused trouble, but she knew if she behaved then she could have fun during recess. It was her favorite time of the day.

The school she attended had a large play structure along with some swings and a grass field. The students had full reign of the area for half an hour every day. Nora spent most of her time on the play structure. She climbed up to the top only to jump down and do it again. She tried to play games with the other kids once, but they ran away before she could talk to them. It didn't bother her too much; she could still have fun on her own.

One day, when she was busy climbing up the side of the play structure, she heard something that contrasted all of the fun parts of recess. Someone was crying. To be precise, it was a young boy with long black hair. He was sitting below the structure, sobbing quietly into clenched fists. For a moment, Nora stared down at him. Then she came to a decision.

Nora squeezed through the bars and hopped down in front of the boy. He tensed up when she landed, pink eyes widened in surprise.

"Hi." Nora gave her biggest smile. "I'm Nora!" She reached out with one hand. "What's your name?" The boy wiped his eyes with his shirt.

"Ren." He reached up and allowed her to help him stand. Once Ren was on his feet he let go immediately, fighting the urge to rub his eyes again.

"Whatcha doin' down here?" Nora wanted to know. Nobody ever went under the play structure, especially not to cry.

"Nothing." Ren looked her in the eye, holding her gaze firmly. His eyes were still a little red around the edges. He was kind of odd, Nora thought to herself, but he seemed cool.

"Okay." Nora reclaimed the hand she'd lost. "Wanna hang out?" Maybe he would be her friend. Or maybe not, she was starting to get used to being alone.

"Sure." Her hand felt warm and comforting in his. This time he didn't let go.

"Do you wanna just stay down here and talk for a bit?" Mostly she would do the talking, which he'd find out soon.

"Sounds good." It really really did.

The pair sat down on the ground, still holding hands. They stayed under the structure until the end of recess, just talking and getting to know each other. Well, Nora did almost all of the talking, but that was okay. They both finally had a friend. It was too soon to tell Nora why Ren had been crying, but he hoped someday he would be able to share it with her. Their conversation became the first of many, an introduction to a beautiful friendship.


	2. Complicated - Love Live, Nozoeli

Maki thought herself to be a perceptive person. She knew just about everything there was to know about her fellow idols, which was mostly learned though observation. She also kept a close eye on their relationships. Something was clearly going on between Rin and Hanayo, even though they wouldn't admit it, and she could swear that Umi and Kotori sent each other looks when they though nobody was watching. Honoka loved everyone equally and Nico was equal parts cute and abrasive, though towards Maki she was mostly abrasive. The only two she didn't have pegged were Nozomi and Eli.

During practice they were apart as often as they were together. Nozomi helped with the lyrics occasionally while Eli worked on the dance moves. Even during whole group practice there wasn't really anything to notice. After practice they often went down to the student council room to get some work done. Most days Maki let them go. But this day was different. She needed to figure them out.

Maki made all her plans in advance. She called her parents and told them she'd be home late, did her homework in her other classes so she wouldn't have to do it that night, and left Muse practice a few minutes early to get ready. She even had a discreet set of sweatpants and a t-shirt to change into so no one would recognize her.

When Eli and Nozomi arrived at the student council room she was already waiting around the corner. She knew whch direction they'd come from, so it was easy to get the vantage point. Once they closed the door, she crept around the corner and approached silently. Maki pressed a plastic cup against the door, trying to listen in to their conversations.

"Maki was acting kind of weird today." Eli's voice echoed through the wall. Of course she was talking about the teen spying on them.

"I'll ask her about it tomorrow." Nozomi's voice was accompanied by the sound of papers being shuffled.

"Hopefully nothing's wrong." A filing cabinet drawer opened and closed.

"Is this the last of it?" Nozomi asked.

"Yeah, we didn't have a lot today." Maki almost swore. They were already ready to leave? If she didn't move quickly they'd see her. She scrambled away from the door, retreating around the corner. Maki had barely made it when Eli opened the door. Nozomi followed closely behind, and luckily they went the opposite direction from where Maki hid.

She followed them, of course. They went out to the front entrance of the school, and when they reached the gate they turned left. Maki was too far away to hear what they were talking about; they would see her if she got too close. Every once in a while their hands brushed together lightly, something Maki made note of. Were they actually dating?

No, if they were actually dating they'd be holding hands, not just casually brushing them together. She needed more information, it was too soon to draw a conclusion.

The rest of the walk didn't provide any new details. After about ten minutes the pair stopped to split up. Maki still couldn't get close enough to hear them, but she could see them just fine from behind a bush. They faced each other, sharing quiet words.

Eli leaned in for a long kiss, and Maki choked on her own spit. The blonde teen pulled back after a long moment, saying something Maki couldn't make out, before waving shyly goodbye and walking away. Nozomi had flushed deeply, but waved slowly in return. At least, that's what Maki could see from a distance.

Maki's cheeks felt hot; she was starting to regret this excursion. Maybe they were actually dating. Or maybe they weren't, she still wasn't sure. Nozomi still hadn't moved from the intersection. Maki let out a sigh, disentangling herself from the bush, and started her trek home. She wondered if all of this was really worth it.

The next morning, at before school practice, Eli handed Maki a pair of binoculars with a grin. Maybe, Maki thought agitatedly, she should stop watching and just ask them.


	3. Making History - RWBY, Burning Rose

Most six year olds dreaded having an early bedtime, but for Ruby bedtime was the best part of the day. Yang always told her awesome stories before bed. Sometimes they were tales of legendary hunters and huntresses fighting grimm, while other stories focused more on what huntresses did outside of fighting. Regardless of what they were about, Yang told the best stories.

Ruby got ready for bed as fast as she could that night in order to get to story time faster. She didn't make very many story requests, but tonight she had one. She wasn't sure if it was okay to ask, but decided to go for it anyway.

"Could you tell me a story about Mom?" Their mother had been dead for over a year, but Dad and Yang never talked about her. Ruby still cried sometimes about her passing. Was it too much to ask for a story about her? Yang cried too when she didn't think Ruby was watching, but the younger girl always knew.

For a moment Yang's lips flashed to a frown, and though she couldn't see them her eyes flashed red. Ruby didn't know about their different mothers. Dad only told Yang, and though he didn't tell her it was a secret she knew better than to tell Ruby. The younger girl didn't need to know, not yet anyway. But she wasn't asking about that right then, she wanted to hear a story about her mother. Yang didn't really know any stories about her surrogate parent, she was only eight years old after all, but she wasn't going to tell Ruby that. It was time to improvise.

Yang forced a smile back onto her face. "Of course Rubes, after all she was an amazing huntress." As Yang continued talking, she wove together a story of nobility and adventure. She spoke of great fights and incredible deeds. She included tense romances and rivalries. The Summer Rose of Yang's tale was a perfect huntress. Though Yang didn't know what kind of huntress her surrogate mother had actually been, she knew what Ruby needed her to be.

Ruby listened intently to the story, already dreaming about the future.


End file.
